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The last time we visited Tassel Ridge Winery we picked up a wide variety of different bottles. We recently uncorked the winery’s “Pizzeria and Pasta Too!” red wine. During our taste tests there at the winery we had been impressed by this wine. This is a surprisingly (for an Iowa wine) dry red wine. Although this wine is a totally different red wine from Tassel Ridge’s Marquette, it, like the Marquette, is also nearly lacking in the musty, “foxy” odor and flavor (sometimes called “bacon flavor”) that plagues Iowa red wines, especially those that are touted as “dry.” This is why I’ll drop a note about any Iowa wine that I find that lacks this nasty characteristic.

This wine is made from the Sabrevois grape grown in the vineyard. I did some research on this grape and found that some growers believe it is hard to know when it is the right time to pick the grape. Waiting too long gives it that taint. Obviously, Tassel Ridge picked these grapes at the right time and avoided any problems.

The wine pours a deep garnet and has a dry low to medium fruit aroma and flavor. I would not describe the finish as particularly fruity. The wine went great with our tomato and cheese bruschetta dinner. As one of the less expensive ($13) bottles in the Tassel Ridge inventory I recommend the current lot as a good wine to pair with food (hence the name).